MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Here are the winners and losers of Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate, accurate to three decimal places.

FIRST PLACE: Mitt Romney

Analysis: Strong, clear, gives good soundbite and has shoulders you could land a 737 on. Not only knows how to answer a question, but how to duck one. Asked why he was so late in deciding to oppose abortion, Romney smoothly replied: “I'm not going to apologize for the fact that I became pro-life.”

His strongest line came about his being a Mormon: “I also believe that there are some pundits out there that are hoping that I’ll distance myself from my church so that that’ll help me politically. And that's not going to happen.”

Romney does well in these debates but he is still languishing in the national polls. In the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted May 29-June 1, Romney was still in single digits, tied for fourth place with Newt Gingrich, who may not even run. Romney can’t debate his way to the White House. He needs something more and he better find it before Fred Thompson gets in the race for real and starts using up all the oxygen.

Score: 82.346 (out of 100.)

SECOND PLACE: Rudy Giuliani

Analysis: Kept attacking Democrats, which was a smart move. Republican primary voters want these guys to beat up the other party, not each other.

Too smart to be tricked into saying he would nuke Iran. American’s don’t want presidents with itchy trigger fingers. Good laugh line when he was asked about attacks on him by a Catholic bishop, and there was a flash of lightning from the storm outside: “Look, for someone who went to parochial schools all his life, this is a very frightening thing that's happening right now.”

He then stuck to his guns on his pro-choice stance in a way that appeals to some conservatives, who don’t like intrusive government: “My view on abortion is that it's wrong, but that ultimately government should not be enforcing that decision on a woman.” He also bashed the media for being too negative about Iraq. You can never go wrong bashing the media.

Knows how to set up a straw man and then knock him down: Asked about why he believes in Creationism, he said: “If they want a president who doesn't believe in God, there's probably plenty of choices.” There are? Name one.

Still, he managed to come across as conservative, but not scary. But we are forced to subtract points because he said: “Today's the birthday of Ronald Reagan.” Totally wrong. Ronald Reagan was born on February 6, 1911. Huckabee actually meant it was the anniversary of Reagan’s death on June 5, 2004. But, hey, veeps don’t have to know everything.

Score: 68.000

FOURTH PLACE: John McCain

Analysis: He is not closing the deal. We might have put him in fifth, but he finally caught fire an hour and forty-five minutes into a two-hour debate. But he kept saying “my friends” so much, you began to wonder if he had any. (By the way, if you were wondering why there were no “show of hands” questions Tuesday night, it is because McCain has difficulty raising his arms due to his Vietnam War injuries.)

I interviewed McCain in February about the problem his immigration stance poses for him and he said: “One of the biggest problems with immigration reform is that it takes so long to explain it. If I had a half hour with every Republican, they’d all say, ‘Oh, yeah, now I get it.’” Well, he doesn’t have a half hour. He needs a better soundbite, which is what debates are all about.

Score: 56.777

FIFTH PLACE: Fred Thompson

Analysis: Didn’t show up; didn’t lose any ground. He is still the candidate of Republicans who looked at the 10 men on the stage Tuesday night and asked: “Is this all we got?” But at some point, in order to get the nomination he may actually have to campaign. We think.

Score: 51.991

SIXTH PLACE: Tommy Thompson

Analysis: At least he won’t have to blame any of his answers on needing to go to the bathroom, as he did in a past debate. But he needs to hold more debates in thunderstorms where the chance of a lightning strike might significantly reduce the field.

Score: 43.002

SEVENTH PLACE: Sam Brownback

Analysis: What was with the green tie?

Score: 31.776

EIGHTH PLACE: James Gilmore

Analysis: What was with the crooked tie?

Score: 26.876

NINTH PLACE: Ron Paul

Analysis: The best Texas candidate in the race

Score: 13.112

TENTH PLACE: Tom Tancredo.

Analysis: Mr. Mean. Doesn’t want any more foreigners here until we “assimilate” the ones we already have. He asks: “We can talk about all the immigration reform we want and what it's got to get down to is this: Are we ready for a time-out?” The real question may be whether Tom Tancredo is ready for a time-out.

Score: 10.321

ELEVENTH PLACE: Duncan Hunter

Analysis: Mr. Meaner. Launches sneak attack on Romney, Giuliani and McCain in the last three minutes of debate so they can’t defend themselves. Nobody likes a sneak. Attack earlier next time.